Few countries give there fighters as tough an upbringing as Argentina. For years guys toil away in near obscurity, if you’re good enough you’ll make the grade, if not on to the next guy. By their very nature Argentinean fighters are hard men where only the toughest survive. One only needs to think of some of the warriors who have represented their country most notable the ultra macho Carlos Monzon who was arguably the greatest Argentinean fighter ever. Others include Light Heavyweight warrior Victor Galindez, Middleweight Juan Roldon & way down at Flyweight Pascual Perez.
More recently Jorge Castro springs to mind, he was a 20 year veteran of 143 fights. Back in the 1990’s Castro way behind on points bleeding from cuts around both eyes looking like he was at the point of being stopped, threw a devastating hook that some how turned the whole fight with John David Jackson on it’s head. It was voted in 1994 the fight of the year by The Ring magazine. It was a stoppage not to dissimilar to Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo. The man was so tough that even after a motor accident he made a comeback to Prize fighting.
The Best fighter in Argentina at the moment is WBC Middleweight champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez, the 35 year old from a suburb of Buenos Aires who now lives and trains out of Oxnard, Ca.
He’s earnt his right to be the numero uno the hard way. He debuted back in 1997 with little amateur pedigree having not started to box until he was 20, he learnt his trade in the ring. By 2000 he had run his record to an impressive 16-0-1(6) when he fought the vastly more seasoned Antonio Margarito in Las Vegas. It was a step too far for Martinez who was stopped in the seventh. As a measure of his class when asked if he felt Margarito was using loaded gloves way back then he says ” I did not think he had his gloves loaded. He was the better fighter that night and he was better prepared than I was. I have no regrets and it was early in my career; I have become a better fighter because of it”
Since that learning curve he’s become a road warrior plying his trade in Spain in 2002 because of Economic reason’s. He also took his skills to England where he won 3 consecutive fights in 2003/04. Finally he caught the eye of someone in America, a certain Lou DiBella brought Martinez box of tricks to America in 2007 and fought him 3 times the first being a WBC Light Middleweight eliminator.
It didn’t help that Oscar De La Hoya fought Floyd Mayweather in a mega money fight meaning an unknown like Martinez had no chance of fighting the winner, even when Mayweather was victorious and handed the trinket back leaving Vernon Forrest to pick up the reigns and become 154 champ. Forrest had no wish to fight Martinez either and took on Contender winner Sergio Mora splitting two bouts.
So it wasn’t until late 2008 when Martinez became the Interim champion. Last year he found himself in the unusual position of not winning either of his fights but still his profile was raised first he was held to a draw by Kermit Cintron in a fight pretty much everyone believes he won.
The normally passive Martinez says of the Cintron fight “the ruling was an embarrassment to boxing, first to cancel my KO in the 7th round and then giving me a draw”
Then he stepped up to Middleweight and fought Paul Williams after Kelly Pavlik was forced to pull out through injury. Once again many in attendance and at home thought Martinez had done enough but he lost an agonising majority decision.
One of the judges handed in a laughable 119-110 card for Williams. Martinez’s take on that fight “It was a close fight and we both wanted a victory that night but, I believe I was the better fighter that night. How can we forget that horrible judges score card (Mr. Benoist) giving me only one round the whole entire fight, WOW!! That was crazy”
When then Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams again struggled to work out a deal for them to fight. Martinez on the strength of his Spartan showing in his two previous fights both on HBO was awarded a shot at Pavlik. When the fight started Martinez lateral movement was to much for Pavlik and Martinez opened up a sizeable lead over the first half of the fight until Pavlik re-adjusted and got himself back in the fight until a cut switched the advantage back to Martinez who closed the show and this time wasn’t to be denied.
Since then Martinez has been busy raising his profile attending the Mayweather-Mosley fight, heading to Canastota for the Hall of Fame induction’s & even travelling to Cardiff in Britain to attend the Night of Champions where he was one of the show piece champions.
Maravilla who lists Carlos Monzon as one of his favourite fighters but is too humble to want to be compared to Argentina’s finest will be back in action on 20 November when he faces Paul Williams in a highly anticipated rematch again in Atlantic City, NJ at the Boardwalk. If he can gain a measure of revenge by beating Williams his star will have ascended to such a height that he’ll be favourite to be named Fighter of the year. That’s quite a long way for a guy who didn’t even get into Boxing until he was 20.
In the talent Laden Light Welterweight division arguably the most exciting fighter is Marcos Maidana. Maidana is a force of nature who hits every inch of his 140 pounds, posts a vaunted 93% kayo ratio. “El Chino” sprang to prominence going 25-0(24) before he fought the more technically sound Andreas Kotelnik for the WBA 140 title losing a razor close split decision.
He was then selected to come to America where rising Victor Ortiz was expected to feast on his Argentinean foe. The kamikaze battle not to dissimilar to Naseem Hamed-Kevin Kelley saw both hit the canvas multiple times before Ortiz retired in the sixth round, really catapulting Maidana into the top end of the Light Welterweight division.
He has since stayed busy with two fights including one in Las Vegas where he battered previously unbeaten Victor Cayo into submission. Over the past few months Maidana has been injured forcing the cancellation of a fight with Tim Bradley. A fall fight beckons with Amir Khan on 11 December in Las Vegas on HBO.
It would be fair to expect anyone who has been a world champion for nearly 10 years and made nearly 20 defence’s to be some what well known amongst the fight fraternity even if the guy plys his trade at 112. That’s not the case with Omar Narvaez though. He has impressive numbers he’s 32-0-2(19), he’s a two weight champion making 16 defence’s of his WBO Flyweight title until he stepped up to Super Flyweight this year where he won a second crown. He’s also represented his country at two Olympics, during his amateur days.
However the problem with Narvaez is that in a division largely dominated by Asian fighters he’s struggled mercilessly to find an opponent who could bring out the most in his undoubted skills. When asked why he hadn’t fought some of the top guys he reason’s “I never received offers to fight with the best and I hope I will fight with them one day”
It was mentioned several years ago that Narveaz may meet Vic Darchinyan on Showtime however Narveaz didn’t see it that way telling 15rounds.com ” About Darchinyan I never received a serious proposal, all it was a supposed fight but it never came up to nothing.”
We can only hope that sooner rather than later Narvaez is given the chance to fight some of the top guys in and around his weight class.
Hailing from a Boxing family Lucas Matthysse 27-0(25) 1 no contest has always been involved in Boxing, his elder brother Walter actually fought twice in America against Paul Williams & Kermit Cintron without much joy.
It’s something Lucas will hope to better, he has already fought in America twice making quite a splash on the eve of De La Hoya-Mayweather in 2008 when he showed off his impressive power vaporising Ramon Duran in one round. Three months later he was invited back but this time his fight ended unsatisfactorily when Rogelio Casteneda Jr was cut and the fight was called off thus rending it a no contest.
Since then he has gone 5-0, he stopped Vivian Harris in 4 the stoppage appeared pretty quick and Matthysse initially declined a rematch but since then he has retracted that statement “I believe that I was going to knockout Vivian. I don’t have any problem in giving him the rematch”.
Having gone back over old ground obliterating Casteneda in a rematch he has been handed a the biggest fight of his career when he travels to Newark, NJ on 6 November to fight Zab Judah in an intriguing battle of two big punchers. The winner will fight Kaiser Mabuza likely in the first quarter of 2011 for the vacant IBF title.
Also worth mentioning is Sebastian Lujan at Welterweight, the 30 year old from Rosario hasn’t lost at 147 in five years is currently 35-5-2(22). He has been forced to leave his the more comfy confines of Welterweight to briefly try his hand at Light Middleweight where he lost in a title fight to Sergei Dzindziruk & Jamie Moore.
Once he realised his best work couldn’t be achieved at 154 and got back to his more natural Welterweight. He has got some good names on his record beating then unbeaten Robert Reuque KO9, Walter Matthysse KO5, Luis Castillo PTS10. You probably remember Lujan best for his spirited challenge to Antonio Margarito which was stopped after he suffered a horrific cut to his ear in 2005. Lujan was in the running for a shot at Berto but nothing came of that. He’s world ranked by WBC 6, WBA 11, IBF 10.
Luis Abregu got his big chance when he fought Tim Bradley on HBO back in July however he lost his unbeaten record but will of learnt more from that fight than any other. “El Potro” turns 28 in December and it seems he can rebound and build on the Bradley loss and come again.
Though he looks destined to be one of those fighters who is capable of beating most fighters just not the very best. I would expect him to to get back to work probably in his homeland before his American promoter the influential Gary Shaw brings him back to America. With his power 23 stoppages in 29 wins against just the Bradley reverse you never know.
He owns solid wins over Roberto Reuque KO3, since coming to America he’s not had it all his own way winning a split decision over David Estrada, a wild four round stoppage over fringe contender Irving Garcia which saw both men touch down. Prior to the Bradley fight he bested Richard Gutierrez over ten rounds, again in both men were again on the canvas.
All things considered Abregu is a very entertaining TV fighter because of his all action style, he’s equally likely to be dropped himself as he is to do it to his opponent. However anyone who has struggles with Estrada, Garcia & Gutierrez isn’t likely to become a world champion in the talent laden 147 weight class.
A pro since 1996 Luis Alberto Lazarte seemed destined to finish his career as a nearly man. He’d fought for World titles on five occasions from Strawweight up to Flyweight and always come up short.
When asked about fighting at 39 he offers “I know I am not a young but I am always in good shape and I love training, so I will keep boxing until I feel I can’t anymore” and currently he’s in the form of his life.
Back in May Lazarte’s people brought Carlos Tamara the IBF Light Flyweight champion over to Argentina. It was the last throw of the dice, surely he’d never get another shot. Low and behold the the old war horse stunned the much younger Tamara and collected the world title in a close some would say controversial manner. It’s hard not to feel Lazarte 48-9-1(18) finally had lady luck on his side having lost a split & majority decision in previous attempts.
Four of the nine loses hung on his record are because of disqualification, when questioned for the reasoning behind that he said ” The fights I lost by disqualification were because I used to get nervous very often but now I have learned that lesson”
His first defence was against Nerys Espinoza again Lazarte with new found confidence kept hold of the crown with a unanimous decision.
Recently it was announced that he will make his second defence against former champion Ulises Solis on 18 December. It would be considered despite home field advantage a huge upset if he can turn back the challenge of Solis.
“El Mosquito” is an incredibly humble fighter who despite his Boxing career works a day job as a Road Sweeper on the streets of Buenos Aires.
Interestingly for a man who shared the ring with Pongsaklek Wongjongkam & Omar Narvaez two long reigning Flyweight champions when asked about who the best fighter he has fought is he added ” I think the best one was Kermin Guardia. And in my opinion, a fight between Narvaez and Pongsaklek would be very interesting as both as great boxers but I can’t give a result”
Juan Carlos Reveco wasted little time having gone pro in April 2004 he became WBA Light Flyweight champion in a shade over 3 years. After one defence he lost to talented Brahim Asloum in what was a close fight, though we don’t like to think it, home field advantage plays a significant part. Also factor in Asloum the local star having won France first Boxing medal in 64 years at the Olympics in 2000 and you can imagine Reveco had to win and win well to keep his title.
Not perturbed he won two fights before beating granite chinned Francisco Rosas for the Interim version of the WBA 108 crown making two defences both impressively inside the distance. He was due to fight Nicaraguan Roman Gonzalez in Japan on 23 October but was forced to pull out through injury. It would seem highly likely that the fight with Gonzalez will be rescheduled when Raveco is fit & healthy.
He may be at the veteran’s stage of his career but Jorge “La Hiena” Barrios is still a tough nights work for anyone. You only need to look at his 56 fight record 50 wins, 35 KO’s, 4 loses, 1 draw & one no contest to to realise that at 34 years old on the back of a 14 year pro career that only the best beat him.
First of all he lost a disqualification to Cesar Domine way back in 1997, he quickly wrote that wrong what he stopped him in a straight rematch two months later. He never lost again until 2003 when he got his long awaited title shot losing a savage war to WBA/WBO kingpin Acelino Freitus via eleventh round KO with the fight poised on the score cards with each man up on one card and the third a draw. Both men had been down twice each in the fight.
He would reign as WBO Super Featherweight champion when he beat Mike Anchondo before making two defence’s. Barrios was to lose the title to skilled Joan Guzman in a keenly fought fight on a split decision. After two years out with only one fight Barrios then travelled to Houston to fight tough Texan Rocky Juarez who after a slow start came on strong late to force the stoppage of “La Hiena” who suffered from a vicious laceration on the side of his mouth.
It was nearly a year since Barrios last fought due to problems outside of the ring but he returned to outpoint Wilson Alcorro in October that has set up a fight with ring legend Erik Morales at 138 pounds on 18 December in Morales hometown of Tijuana.
Fernando “El Vasco” Saucedo will look to do the near impossible when he heads to Indonesia to face local hero Chris John for something called the WBA “Super” World Featherweight title. It’s not that Saucedo 29, isn’t any good it’s just when you look at his record 38-4-3(1) you realise that Saucedo who was going to have a tough time leaving Jakarta with the title anyway faces that daunting task without any sort of knock out punch.
To his credit and countless rounds of practice, 279 to be exact Saucedo has managed to perform very well winning the Argentinean Lightweight title & the South American Featherweight championship. Of late he has taken to fighting shorter distance fights presumably because he knew no matter how long the fight was scheduled for he wasn’t going to get the KO
Featherweight Jonathan “Yoni” Barros proved his metal in March when he went the distance with the explosive Yuriorkis Gamboa. It was to be the first defeat of his career from which he probably learnt more than from the previous 28 victory’s. To his credit he has fought twice since winning both taking his record to 30-1-1(17) putting him in line to face Panamanian Irving Berry on 4 December for the vacant WBA title in Barros home town of Mendoza. If he can snear the title that will surely lead to further big pay days against the divisions elite.
Further down the scale and at the beginning of there professional career’s there are a few noteworthy pugilists who will do the rounds in one of the toughest if not the toughest circuits in world Boxing until they possible graduate to world level.
Ezequiel Maderna 24, fought at the 2008 Olympics where he was Argentina’s sole reprehensive has quickly moved to 11-0(8) fighting at Light Heavyweight.
Highly thought of Welterweight Diego Chaves has been a pro for just over two years, he’s only 24, has already fought over 12 rounds & fought in America on the Maidana-Cayo card in March and boasts an impressive 15-0(12).
Southpaw Featherweight Jesus Cuellar is another that has his plaudits going 13-0(10), he turns 24 in December and is currently fighting his way through tough journeyman like 29 fight veteran Claudio Tapia 16-9-4(3) notably becoming the first person to stop Tapia. Next came Miguel Caceres 20-22-4(5) only being stopped in once previously, Cuellar won a comfortable decision though.
At Super Bantamweight Maximiliano Marquez 10-0(5) warrants a mention, though isn’t as advanced as some of the others mentioned. His next fight on the undercard of Diego Chaves 30 October though still a 6 rounder will be a marked step up when he faces off with tough as nails Diego Loto 11-18-4(2) though Loto has never been stopped.
Diego Santillan at 23 seems to be a useful puncher 9-0(8) but will be a few years off any kind of fight. Until then expect him to stay busy against the usual list of Argentina hard men whilst looking to make an impression on the money men in America that could bring him over for money fights. However fighting at Bantamweight that will be tough.
To surplant those guys the next batch of talent are still in the amateurs it may be worth keeping an eye on Fabian Maidana (I wasn’t able to find out if he was related to Marcos) he won Silver at this years World Youth championships and fights at 64Kg(Light Welterweight). Brian Castano at 69kg (Welterweight), Gumersindo Carrasco Herrera at 64Kg, at 57Kg (Featherweight) Ignacio Perrin, at 54Kg (Bantamweight) Marcos Cabral, 51 Kg (Flyweight)Fernando Martinez & Junior Zarate 48Kg (Light Flyweight).
